Sudden Death

[Joshmo]

Was driving my beautiful 73 Series III 109 6cyl today going 50mph down the road when suddenly the engine cut out. Pulled over and tried cranking the engine, starter working but no combustion. Got out and noticed a clicking sound from the right side, so I crawled under to discover the fuel lift pump making the sound. Put my hand on it and it's definitely the source as I felt the thumping. So now she sits lifeless in the garage while I post this thread.

Any thoughts?

[StX_Rovers]

Two thoughts, and I am not trying to be a jerk with the first one. Are you absolutely sure there is fuel in the tank? A pump that is running will make a clicking sound. If it is the original SU pump if it is not making any sound sometimes a quick tap on it will jar the points loose so it starts working again. You can try disconnecting the fuel line at the carby and point it into a metal container and turn on the ignition key for a second. Have a helper for this so you do not leave it on for long. If fuel pumps out the problem is ignition.

Usually sudden cut out is electrical. Look for something as simple as a wire fallen off. Don't forget the rum to help relax you while trouble shooting.

Best, Dave

[SafeAirOne]

The electric boost pumps in the 6cyl 109s always click when they're energized. They click noticeably louder when they're dry.

I suspect that either you're out of gas or the strainer on the bottom of the fuel pickup tube inside the tank is clogged.

My vote is for the clogged strainer. I have to do a roadside cleanout of my strainer every 6 months, always on the coldest or hottest day of the year or when I'm wearing nice clothes.

Ahh...the Land Rover lifestyle...

[Joshmo]

My first thought was perhaps I somehow ran out of fuel too, but that's not the issue, I tested the pump and it's working fine, pulled the fuel line post filter and gas was flowing just fine.

Therefore it must be ignition?

I'm new to all this. ha!

[stomper]

I've had a failed coil do this to me, as well as a failed rotor button.

Pull the center lead off the distributor cap and place it close to a ground while someone cranks the motor. See if you have a strong spark. That will determine if it is upstream or downstream.

[SafeAirOne]

My first thought was perhaps I somehow ran out of fuel too, but that's not the issue, I tested the pump and it's working fine, pulled the fuel line post filter and gas was flowing just fine.

Therefore it must be ignition?

I'm new to all this. ha!

Have you tried to start it (WITH the fuel line connected) since you got it home?

I would still advise you to clean the strainer on the pickup tube in the tank. Also I'd change the filter on the pump (yes there's one on the pump too). Here's why:

When the strainer on the pickup tube is clogged up, the pumps can still suck a certain amount of fuel through. At higher RPMs the engine will demand more fuel than can be sucked through the partially-clogged strainer. When operating at high RPMs for a period of time, eventually a 'deficit' of fuel occurs, creating a vacuum in the fuel lines (imagine blocking most of the opening of a straw and sucking hard on the other end). The engine will eventually die when the fuel deficit in the lines gets to a point where there's not enough fuel available to keep the engine running.

If you let the dead rover sit for a few hours, the vacuum in the fuel lines will eventually pull enough fuel through the mostly-clogged strainer, to refill the fuel lines and it will start and idle normally. The blockage might even be such that you can drive around town at low RPM's, but once your engine demands more fuel than can be supplied by the clogged strainer, the process begins all over again as a vacuum begins slowly building till reaching the point where it will no longer sustain the engine.

This is why it is possible for the engine to run and you to get fuel flow a few hours after the engine dies.

Access to clean the strainer is easy--Just remove the forward-most access cover in the floor of the tub, exposing the fuel pickup tube.

Then agian, it could be the ignition. Are you getting a strong spark at each of the plugs?

[vkjar]

I had similar issues. I was plagued for months with sudden engine stalls. thought it was clogged filters strainer carb etc (old tanks with crap in them). I would drive around no problems then it would die. while swearing and trying to fix the issue along side a busy road fuel running down my arm I found the problem to be a rotted end on a section of rubber fuel line where it tied into the metal line. This only happened when the truck was hot causing parts to expand allowing air to get into the line. cut the rotten end off and have not had an issue since. have a look might be the issue?

[Cutter]

This happened to my 2.6 more than once. It was always the dizzy capacitor or the rotor. I switched to a pertronix ignition, best upgrade. None of them had many miles on them, just crap quality, fwiw.

[Joshmo]

After many days of sitting, I tried starting her again today, no change. So I pulled a plug and had a buddy crank it, no spark. Now to discover where in the ignition I've got a flaw....

[ArlowCT]

Regap the points and see if that changes anything. I had it happen more than once before switching to petronix.

[o2batsea]

Condensor. Classic failure symptom is sudden death and no spark. Try this first.

[stomper]

Reread my post from yesterday. Rule out the coil, ignition switch, and the rest of the upstream components in about 2 minutes. Then you can troubleshoot with some organization. Rather than spending time and money on stuff that isn't broken.

[Joshmo]

Alright so the coil seems to be working fine. I actually happen to have a replacement condenser in my tool box, and a rotor arm as well. But then I went to take off the old rotor arm to discover 1) It's different, and 2) It's pretty dam stuck on there. Am I an idiot for assuming this thing should pull right off? Once I get it off, could I replace it with the new one I have? See Pics Below.

[stomper]

Is that the rotor for a 6 cylinder engine? It is hard to tell with the photos that are on the RN website. You seem to have a 25D distributor, but I have never seen a rotor that looks quite like yours. I'm thinking the prior owner may have bodged a rotor from a different vehicle to get him home, and never fixed it correctly. It should just pull straight off. What is clear though is that your old rotor looks like it is toast. I think you found your culprit. May as well replace the points and condensor while you are in there, it obviously has not been done in quite some time!

[Cutter]

Alright so the coil seems to be working fine. I actually happen to have a replacement condenser in my tool box, and a rotor arm as well. But then I went to take off the old rotor arm to discover 1) It's different, and 2) It's pretty dam stuck on there. Am I an idiot for assuming this thing should pull right off? Once I get it off, could I replace it with the new one I have? See Pics Below.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8516[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8517[/ATTACH]

The rotor in there is pretty funky but who knows. It should pull up and off unless its kludged. Can you try it with that now that the condenser is swapped?